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Is Shadow The Ultimate Lifeform?


Shadow Chaos Control

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I have often wondered, is Shadow the Hedgehog the Ultimate Lifeform as he proclaims? You get the impression he is due to his incredible ability to wield Chaos Control. 

When you face the Biolizard in SA2 it reads “Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform.” 

C225169C-4325-4749-B61B-A5AAD255DDE1.jpeg.62a20e0665846633bac317b75860e63f.jpeg

But is Shadow really The Ultimate Lifeform? Or was that some kind of brain washing he recieved?  Outside of Black Doom in the Shadow The Hedgehog Spin off video game, is there any indicator Shadow is the Ultimate lifeform in the games and comics? Could not Mephiles the Dark be a candidate for the Ultimate Lifeform? 

So is Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform or not? Was this just his own egotism and brainwashing or is it true, is he the greatest lifeform in the Sonic Universe? 

6C359388-F449-48B0-9479-CF411841A20C.jpeg.3f2a32c1b47e3be7f941e0d8e784461c.jpeg

Chaos Shadow

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i was always under the impression that the end of SA2 was trying to say that Sonic was actually the ultimate lifeform. Shadow being a predictive imitation of Super Sonic that didn't quiiiite make it far enough to survive in the end.

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I think shadow is very powerful but he is not the ultimate life form he and sonic are basically the same but he can do chaos control and he can’t even run fast he just uses his rocket shoes 

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31 minutes ago, Natie said:

i was always under the impression that the end of SA2 was trying to say that Sonic was actually the ultimate lifeform. Shadow being a predictive imitation of Super Sonic that didn't quiiiite make it far enough to survive in the end.

Interesting, following the reasoning that Sonic is the Ultimate Lifeform, was  Shadow Professor Gerald Robotnik’s attempt to make a bioengineered copy,  much like Ivan Robotnik would created Mecha Sonic? 

To play God if you will. 

25 minutes ago, Nathan said:

I think shadow is very powerful but he is not the ultimate life form he and sonic are basically the same but he can do chaos control and he can’t even run fast he just uses his rocket shoes 

Interesting point about the shoes. Shadow can go really fast with an emerald in hand, but Sonic needs neither a chaos emerald or rocket shoes to go fast. 

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1 hour ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Interesting, following the reasoning that Sonic is the Ultimate Lifeform, was  Shadow Professor Gerald Robotnik’s attempt to make a bioengineered copy,  much like Ivan Robotnik would created Mecha Sonic? 

To play God if you will. 

His motivations were not to play God, but to create an invincible super being so he could unlock the secrets of immortality and cure Maria's illness.

 

It's not confirmed, but the popular theory is that Gerald studied the Chaos Emeralds in the ruins of Echidna society and used that knowledge to try and recreate a being that could harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds. First trying Chaos (the Chaos clones in the Ark), then Perfect Chaos (Biolizard), until discovering the prophetic Super Sonic mural from Sonic 3, and deciding a hedgehog with upturned spines was the one.

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The term Ultimate Lifeform gets stretched from its original intention. The title has nothing to do with how strong Shadow is, or how fast he can run. The entire premise of Project Shadow was to deep dive into immortality. Rouge's final report on the issue clearly labels the Biolizard the prototype of that project and states that at the time of his capture, Gerald and Maria were able to shuttle the near-finished Ultimate Lifeform "Shadow" onto an escape pod. The events of SA2 support that narrative. 

Shadow's body makes him the Ultimate Life form. He doesn't age. He is Immortal. He is the Ultimate Life Form. End of Story. Everything else is just fluff and filler. 

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He's an immortal time stopping super being with the abilities to warp time and space at will cause controlled explosions run a high speed is immune to disease is intelligent and sentient

Yes.

5 hours ago, Nathan said:

Was the ultimate life form just made with rocket shoes

 

5 hours ago, Nathan said:

I think shadow is very powerful but he is not the ultimate life form he and sonic are basically the same but he can do chaos control and he can’t even run fast he just uses his rocket shoes 

The rocket boots actually make less sense , because Ian flynn confirmed he's been told by sega he's just as fast as sonic with out the boots so like. Gerald just thought it would be sick i guess

5 hours ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Interesting, following the reasoning that Sonic is the Ultimate Lifeform, was  Shadow Professor Gerald Robotnik’s attempt to make a bioengineered copy,  much like Ivan Robotnik would created Mecha Sonic? 

 

He wanted to create an immortal being that could cure disease GUN and doom wanted a weapon. Shadow's both.

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Is Shadow’s immortality he doesn’t age (eternal youth) or he cannot die? 

 

5 hours ago, Nathan said:

 

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1 minute ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Is Shadow’s immortality he doesn’t age (eternal youth) or he cannot die? 

 

They have never specified nor will they because all the characters are gonna look the same forever. But I think he's gonna live forever but gradually have more black arms esque mutations as time goes on. I find that the most interesting potentially narratively. Him  growing and having to get comfortable with the black arms side of his genealogy. That said we don't know , we will never know. These characters are gonna look the same forever. Heck  we don't even know if Gerald made shadow. Shadow could be a hedgehog he found. We don't know, we will never know. Sega doesn't want to talk about that stuff

 

The only chance that we might get to knowing is if Shadow gets into a sonic film or cartoon where the creators like the sonic movie have enough free reign to pull from bible stuff we aren't privy to. If that even exists

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Perhaps Shadow is like Mephiles the Dark, a god of some sort? 

 

6 hours ago, Nathan said:

 

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5 minutes ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Perhaps Shadow is like Mephiles the Dark, a god of some sort? 

 

I had a head canon. That Mephilies is old black arms. If you look at the demons in 06 the look like black arms. And I feel like the reason that mephilies took shadow's form is because black arms have a psychic connection going on and he recognized that they were the same. So he shifted himself  to a form that was less threatening than what he orginall looked like. Like maybe he figures shadow is what black arms look like now. I also think that's why he has this obsession with shadow joining his team and them betraying him. Because maybe that's how he got locked up in that jewel in the first place.

I wouldn't call shadow a dark god, but I think as he lives and grows he's going to become more powerful. I saw a concept of a more black arms looking shadow in the future dubbed. " Chaos Supreme " like sorcerer supreme instead of the ULF.

All that being said, this is just a head canon I got. As far as we know mephilies is just some guy

1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

The term Ultimate Lifeform gets stretched from its original intention. The title has nothing to do with how strong Shadow is, or how fast he can run. The entire premise of Project Shadow was to deep dive into immortality. Rouge's final report on the issue clearly labels the Biolizard the prototype of that project and states that at the time of his capture, Gerald and Maria were able to shuttle the near-finished Ultimate Lifeform "Shadow" onto an escape pod. The events of SA2 support that narrative. 

Shadow's body makes him the Ultimate Life form. He doesn't age. He is Immortal. He is the Ultimate Life Form. End of Story. Everything else is just fluff and filler. 

I wouldn't call the other stuff " filler" more so the lore changed and more stuff has to be considered.
I mean one day shadow maybe reinterpreted to be the ULF for other reasons entirely. These characters at the end of the day are subject to change, for better or for worse

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19 minutes ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Is Shadow’s immortality he doesn’t age (eternal youth) or he cannot die? 

 

11 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

They have never specified nor will they because all the characters are gonna look the same forever.

 

Shadow has been described as "Ageless" by Sega websites in the past. Nothing has risen to challenge or retcon that description, so it should still stand. Furthermore, the lyrics to his theme Throw it all away have a verse stating that he'll "Live an Endless Life Forever", which points to him being ageless, and on top of that Black Doom also considered himself Immortal during his Boss Fight, so that's probably more than just a coincidence. 

 

As for the cannot die bit, I think Vandal Savage said it best. 

Shadow's Immortality makes him above death to natural causes. Age. Sickness. ect. (i.e. the things Project Shadow set out to accomplish)

Doesn't mean he can't die. Just that it would take an external factor to do it. 

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1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

 

 

Shadow has been described as "Ageless" by Sega websites in the past. Nothing has risen to challenge or retcon that description, so it should still stand. Furthermore, the lyrics to his theme Throw it all away have a verse stating that he'll "Live an Endless Life Forever", which points to him being ageless, and on top of that Black Doom also considered himself Immortal during his Boss Fight, so that's probably more than just a coincidence. 

 

As for the cannot die bit, I think Vandal Savage said it best. 

Shadow's Immortality makes him above death to natural causes. Age. Sickness. ect. (i.e. the things Project Shadow set out to accomplish)

Doesn't mean he can't die. Just that it would take an external factor to do it. 

So Shadow is like the Elves in Middle Earth, ageless and yet can die. 

Query, is the real Shadow alive after SA2? In Heroes he says he’s a clone. 

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Short answer: 

Shadows swims better than Sonic. That clearly proves his superiority and why he's one true Ultimate Life Form.

Long answer:

Spoiler

 

1) You're ignoring the possibility that ULF can be "ultimate" in other categories than just fighting. You can be best boxer or faster runner, but not both. Too large muscles would slow you down. Maybe Shadow is perfect balance. Maybe he doesn't age (implied few times, but never proven). And he was meant to be a cure for deadly disease, isn't being immune to all (well, most) sicknesses way more important that win fight ratio? (Then again, Shadow is prone to amnesia).

We also have to consider the possibility that Shadow didn't unlocked his true potential yet. Keep in mind, ignoring 50 years sleep, Shadow is 2-3 year old tops. If he even remembers training Gerald gave him, it was probably abruptly interrupted by GUN.

2) We also need to decide what is "Ultimate Life Form", because it's just something Gerald came up with and who gave him right to decide what's counts as perfection? Why Sonic or Shadow should be ULF? Why not Emerl who beat them both (and lost later but it's possible he was helping Sonic to win). Or why not Dark Gaia, Solaris or any other gods? Keep in mind even Super Sonic couldn't kill those two. One went to sleep with help of his brother, while the other was killed thorough time travel.

If you want to be cynical, "Ultimate Life Form" is just a marketing tittle that we're keeping because it sounds cool. I prefer to think that ULF is more of a goal, something that Shadow tries to be. Sonic has flaws, he knows it and is cool with that. Shadow has dead family that left him heavy legacy to live up to and he'll stubbornly aim to make them proud, to be this "Ultimate Life Form" daddy wanted him to be. Gerald might not be a god to create Ultimate Life Form, but he aimed for that and did his best.

3) Of course we also have to consider who's "Gerald's ULF" = "that weapon Geald made". During SA2 it is implied that Shadow's memories are fake and he's not Gerald's ULF. Then he calls Sonic real ULF. Is that just admitting that Sonic is better than him or Shadow somehow figuring out that Sonic is "Gerald's ULF"?  Was Sonic the true friend of Maria who escaped ARK and Shadow is just weapon of vengeance with fake memories made on Prison Island?

Maybe that was the plan, who knows? Shadow the Game made it clear: Shadow is real one. In order to defy that statement you must explain how Gun Commander and Black Doom go after wrong hedgehog, why Sonic isn't immune to paralyze gas or doesn't even once gets any of his memories back, why he doesn't have many of Shadow's powers, etc. I like crazy theories, but this is too much even for me.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

 

 

Shadow has been described as "Ageless" by Sega websites in the past. Nothing has risen to challenge or retcon that description, so it should still stand. Furthermore, the lyrics to his theme Throw it all away have a verse stating that he'll "Live an Endless Life Forever", which points to him being ageless, and on top of that Black Doom also considered himself Immortal during his Boss Fight, so that's probably more than just a coincidence. 

 

As for the cannot die bit, I think Vandal Savage said it best. 

Shadow's Immortality makes him above death to natural causes. Age. Sickness. ect. (i.e. the things Project Shadow set out to accomplish)

Doesn't mean he can't die. Just that it would take an external factor to do it. 

So Shadow is like the Elves in Middle Earth, ageless and yet can die. 

Query, is the real Shadow alive after SA2? In Heroes he says he’s a clone. 

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3 minutes ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

So Shadow is like the Elves in Middle Earth, ageless and yet can die. 

Query, is the real Shadow alive after SA2? In Heroes he says he’s a clone. 

At the end of shadow's game, eggman tells you shadow is the real shadow.

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8 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

At the end of shadow's game, eggman tells you shadow is the real shadow.

Which then means Shadow survived the fall into the planet’s atmosphere (burning up) and his collision with the planet from an incredible height. 

I read your headcanon and its intriguing, I am a major Shadow fan and can see this being an explanation for Mephiles the Dark assuming Shadow’s form. 

What is Shadow’s goal now that he has kept his promise to Maria? Will he remain an antihero, become a harbinger of doom, or perhaps a hermit? 

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What IS the Ultimate Lifeform?

17 hours ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

88EF570D-B3BB-4A6F-A067-0114A8688A30.png.63d0765137c6b880d7b85ea922ac8f68.png

I have often wondered, is Shadow the Hedgehog the Ultimate Lifeform as he proclaims? You get the impression he is due to his incredible ability to wield Chaos Control. 

When you face the Biolizard in SA2 it reads “Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform.” 

C225169C-4325-4749-B61B-A5AAD255DDE1.jpeg.62a20e0665846633bac317b75860e63f.jpeg

But is Shadow really The Ultimate Lifeform? Or was that some kind of brain washing he recieved?  Outside of Black Doom in the Shadow The Hedgehog Spin off video game, is there any indicator Shadow is the Ultimate lifeform in the games and comics? Could not Mephiles the Dark be a candidate for the Ultimate Lifeform? 

So is Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform or not? Was this just his own egotism and brainwashing or is it true, is he the greatest lifeform in the Sonic Universe? 

6C359388-F449-48B0-9479-CF411841A20C.jpeg.3f2a32c1b47e3be7f941e0d8e784461c.jpeg

Chaos Shadow

Honestly yeah, Black Doom probably has a bigger claim considering all he achieved, including Shadow himself.

Mephiles probably can't count since he's an unnaturally unfused part of a dirty from its own pocket dimension.

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Ultimate Life Form is a description, not a title. Shadow is the ULF because he was gonna cure Maria and can't age. Being strong doesn't make you the Ultimate Life Form, it just makes you strong. 

Also, Metal Sonic explicitly copied Shadow's Ultimate Life Form data in Heroes.

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9 hours ago, iambitter21 said:

he's a COPY of an ultimate life-form:

10567.png.4d22faeaf39f105fff90739b0bb7525d.png

YES I MADE THIS ON MS PAINT SO WHAT?

Yeah, you forgot to make the selection transparent.

3 hours ago, Titan Mecha Sonic said:

Which then means Shadow survived the fall into the planet’s atmosphere (burning up) and his collision with the planet from an incredible height. 

I read your headcanon and its intriguing, I am a major Shadow fan and can see this being an explanation for Mephiles the Dark assuming Shadow’s form. 

What is Shadow’s goal now that he has kept his promise to Maria? Will he remain an antihero, become a harbinger of doom, or perhaps a hermit? 

No, Eggman had one of his robots catch him. 

5 minutes ago, thumbs13 said:

Ultimate Life Form is a description, not a title. Shadow is the ULF because he was gonna cure Maria and can't age. Being strong doesn't make you the Ultimate Life Form, it just makes you strong. 

Also, Metal Sonic explicitly copied Shadow's Ultimate Life Form data in Heroes.

Even though he's already a robot...?

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